


Live and Learn

by beautifulterriblequeen



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Can I call it a fix-it fic if it ain't broke yet, Ethari rebuilt the Moonhenge, Family Feels, Feels, Funny, Gen, Happy, Happy Ending for Everyone, Rescuing Harrow, Runaan tries to do the right thing, Sad, Shimmering world beyond life and death, Uhh tissue warning probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24704326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulterriblequeen/pseuds/beautifulterriblequeen
Summary: Ethari rebuilds the Moonhenge to access the afterlife and the first thing Runaan uses it for is to trade his life for Harrow's. But humans don't think the same way Moonshadows do... Harrow has a different plan. And he's going to need his most trusted advisor's help to get it just right.
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Harrow/Sarai (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 85





	Live and Learn

**Author's Note:**

> Just pretend the show went great for 7 seasons and this is the end, yeah? Life is good, the show was amazing, everyone lives, pandemic who?

“It’s the only way, Ethari.” Runaan’s voice held the first cool edges of emotional withdrawal as he began to pull away from the bright new world Rayla and her friends had built. Behind them, the Moon Nexus portal blazed and shimmered within the arches of the Moonhenge, freshly repaired under Ethari’s expertise. And on the far side of it, a destiny that had been calling to Runaan ever since he could remember.

“No, it _can’t_ be.” Ethari’s hands squeezed Runaan’s painfully, and tears welled in his coppery eyes. “I lost you once, Runaan. _Please_ don’t make me do it again. I won’t make it through this time.”

The frost in Runaan’s eyes melted, and he glanced to the side with a soft smile. Rayla stood with Callum, their arms wrapped tightly around each other, faces taut. Rayla was glowering, as she always did when she wasn’t getting her way. Her parents stood with a hand on her and Callum’s shoulders, wearing twin expressions of Moonshadow stoicism. They’d argued all night with Runaan while Ethari made the final repairs to the Moon Nexus—they’d all tacitly agreed not to tell him what Runaan was planning. But Runaan had not been swayed, not by bargains or threats, or even by their shared coin trauma. He knew what was right, this time, for sure. He knew what needed to be done.

Lujanne clasped her hands together tightly, not trusting herself to say a single word, eyes locked on Runaan. But she was flanked by Gren and Soren, whom she’d adopted as her big strapping human grandsons, and they were both doing their best to talk her into stopping Runaan.

King Ezran had come, too, on his Shadowpaw, and he stood with his arms around Bait. Since Runaan had first met him, his face has grown into one that reminded the assassin too strongly of Harrow’s. And right now, that face was tight with an agonized spectrum of feelings, from hope to sorrow to frustration to longing. His bright blue eyes never wavered from the open portal.

Nyx perched overhead and distracted herself from Runaan’s serious stance by making faces at Marcos and Salah, the co-ambassadors to Queen Aanya’s court.

Claudia, General Amaya, Kazi, and Queen Janai stood together. They’d been through their own private battles in Lux Aurea, and they’d come out bonded together more tightly than anyone could imagine. Runaan, Harrow, Rayla, Callum, and Ezran might have represented both the problem and the solution to the endless war, but those four ladies were a close second. They understood what peace truly cost. And they had come to find a way to pay it.

But it wasn’t their price to pay. It was Runaan’s. “You won’t be alone this time, my heart,” he said. “Look. You have a family, just like you always wanted, and bigger than you ever dreamed. Lean on them. Rayla is strong, and Callum has a powerful heart in that skinny human chest of his. And Lain and Tiadrin are here with you now. They’re not leaving this time. You’ll be alright, Ethari.”

“I won’t!” his husband protested tearfully.

“You _will_. This family, their strength and ability to care for you after I’m gone, is what gives me the courage to do this. It must be done. The price _must_ be paid. You know this—you repaired the Moonhenge.”

Ethari’s brows lowered. “I know what it was built to do, Runaan. But what _you_ have in mind _doesn’t_ need to happen.”

Runaan’s gaze sharpened and flickered to Callum. “Yes, it does. No wound can begin to heal until the weapon is withdrawn. I’m that weapon, Ethari. You’ve always known that this is the way it was going to end, my heart. Assassins don’t retire.”

“But… like this? You’re just going to walk through the portal, when you could find _any_ other way? You’re going to _surrender_?” Ethari’s voice grew a sharp edge as he tried to prick Runaan’s pride.

But the very growth that had brought Runaan to his firm decision had also eased his death grip on his honor. He smiled softly and pressed his forehead against Ethari’s, holding him close. “My darling heart. Whatever awaits me, I will carry the memory of you with me. Not even death can take our precious years from me, I swear it. You will ever be my guiding light, no matter where I go.”

Tears edged Ethari’s eyes again, and his voice dropped to a shaky whisper. “But _why_ , Runaan? _Why_ do you want to leave me? I _love_ you, and I know you love me, too. Help me understand.” His fingers knotted in Runaan’s shirt. “I’m not letting you go until I understand why you have to leave me.”

Runaan glanced down at Ethari’s powerful grip. His callused fingers settled atop Ethari’s hands as lightly as a pair of doves. His gaze rose to his husband’s angry tears, and his eyes widened softly. “I have never _wanted_ to leave you, Ethari. Not a single time. I have never turned my feet from home without having to fight the urge to run back into your arms. I—” His throat closed suddenly, and he gritted his teeth to stop the sob that tried to clamber up from his chest.

He was swept into Ethari’s arms in an instant, and the craftsman cupped the back of his head and murmured softly into his ear. “Then stay. Stay. Stay, Runaan.”

Runaan’s gaze found Callum’s again, just over Ethari’s shoulder. His chin trembled for a moment, but he took a deep breath, held safely in Ethari’s arms. “I can’t. I can’t. It’s not right. It’s not just. I took something precious from the world—many times over—and all I have to give to make reparations is the life I myself was gifted. I owe it, Ethari. And I won’t shrink from my duty.” He stepped back slowly, and a small smile crossed his lips. “That’s never been who I am.” He took Ethari’s cheeks in his hands and wiped away his husband’s tears. “I love you, Ethari. But you are the price I must pay for my sins. Please. _Please_. Live for me. Live brightly, so brightly that I can feel your glow from the other side. Everyone here will stand with you and hold you up.”

Ethari began to shake his head and protest again, but Rayla stepped up beside him. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she hugged Ethari gently from the side and leaned her head against his bicep. “I’m here for you, Ethari. Like you were for me. You’ll both be my family forever, no matter which realm you’re in.”

“Me too,” Callum added. He rested a hand on Ethari’s other shoulder. And slowly, one by one, every single person and creature surrounded Ethari and rested a hand on his back or his shoulders.

Ethari’s eyes clung to Runaan the whole time, and he stifled a sob into his palm, shaking his head.

“Go now, Runaan,” Tiadrin said. Her hand rested lightly on his arm, and her eyes were sad but dry. “Hesitation is torture, not mercy.”

The assassin’s eyes leaped to hers, then back to Ethari’s. For a blinding white moment, fear sneaked in and wrapped his spine, and he felt his composure crumble. But then he took one of Ethari’s hands in his—he loved those hands, so beautiful and strong, their skin rough with the effort of his work, yet so tender and precise—and he kissed it softly. “My heart has known true bliss because of you, Ethari. I bless the Moon for giving you to me, for every moment that I had you. I love you. And I always will.”

Their final kiss was soft and gentle and precious, delicate enough not to tear the tender moment any more than it already was. And then Runaan turned and walked through the portal. No hesitation, no fear, just a beaming smile and cheeks full of Moonshadow tears.

One last mission for justice. And then he could rest.

***

“Wait, I think I’m going to need you to explain this to me one more time.” Harrow crossed his arms and gazed warily at the ghostly assassin who stood before him. “You say my sons are over there, waiting for me?”

Runaan nodded. “Yes.”

“And you’re here to… take my place? In this…” the king gestured vaguely to the bright-shadowy world around them, currently represented by the courtyard of Katolis Castle “…afterlife?”

Runaan dipped his horns to the side. “It’s the only way.”

Harrow’s tone turned speculative. “Really? Who says so?”

Runaan sighed patiently. Humans were stubborn even after death, it seemed. “I say so. It’s a…” He flailed for a moment and thought of Rayla. “…Moonshadow elf thing. I’m here to make up for my part in the war. I see now that all my efforts to end it were merely prolonging it instead. I didn’t make anything better, after all.” He looked down. “I didn’t make anything better.” He took a deep breath and looked up. “But you could. You told me, the night we met, that you understood why you had to die. Now we’re meeting a second time. So I’m saying the same thing to you. I understand. And I’m ready. I’ve already crossed over. All you need to do is walk back through the portal. A life for a life. They’re waiting for you. And I feel you’ll do a better job than I will at encouraging peace for our children.”

“‘Our’ children?” Harrow echoed.

Runaan tongued a molar and sucked in a deep breath. The situation was awkward enough in life. But did anything truly matter here and now, aside from his mission? “Your son Callum is betrothed to my protégé, Rayla. She spared his life the night we came to your castle, and they returned the egg of the Dragon Prince to Xadia together. Danger, adventure, a noble cause…” Runaan sighed. “They didn’t stand a chance. Of course they ended up falling in love. That’s how all the Moonshadow stories go.”

Harrow actually chuckled. “Human stories aren’t much different. And neither is my own.”

A strange feeling of connection warmed Runaan’s chest. “Come,” he said. “They’re all waiting.”

In the blink of an eye, he stood at the shimmering border between worlds, with Harrow at his side. He tucked his hands behind his back and nodded curtly. “Good luck to you.”

But Harrow’s brows furrowed, and he glanced at his repentant killer out of the corner of his eye. “Tell me again why this has to be the way.”

Runaan tried to be patient. He knew that Ethari was hovering on the other side of that rippling barrier. He could feel his husband straining for the ritual to be complete, just so he could move forward even the slightest step. _Hesitation is torture_. “It’s simple. In order to bring one life back into the realm of the living, one life must be paid into the realm of the dead.”

Harrow pursed his lips thoughtfully, trying to fully understand this strange new concept. “Is it really that simple? Would any life do?”

Runaan lifted his chin. “It has to be mine, Harrow. For what I’ve done.”

The former king’s braids brushed his tunic as he shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I’m only trying to understand the mechanics here. Could you trade an elderly person for a child? Or a sick person? Someone who is already dying? Is what the magic needs merely a life force? A… well, you’re a Moonshadow elf. A binary exchange, is that it?”

Runaan resisted the urge to simply shove Harrow through the portal. “Very well, it’s _not_ that simple. Does that please you? The two lives must be comparable in some way, bound together. For you and me, our bond is made of death. I’m here to restore it to a bond of justice and equality.”

Harrow rubbed a finger across his beard thoughtfully. “Hmm. You know, ten years ago—for me—I’d have jumped at that explanation. I once wanted everyone to be equal, because that seemed _fair_.”

Intrigued despite himself, Runaan had to ask, “You _don’t_ think equality is fair?”

A melancholy twinkle lit Harrow’s green eyes. “I survived my invasion of Xadia, but I lost my wife, Sarai, to Avizandum’s attack. I was never quite the same after that. Trapped in grief and hate. I nurtured them, held them close, deep down where no one else could see, except Viren. I didn’t die. But I don’t know whether I was really living, after I lost her.”

Runaan’s heart fled to Ethari, and his pale brows bent in sudden worry. Had he chosen wrong _again_ , despite doing his very best to put things right? Had he turned Ethari into a creature driven by grief and rage? _I left him twice… I keep asking him to pay more than anyone else. Am I truly this foolish?_

Harrow seemed to sense his mood shift. His eyes raised to Runaan’s horns. “Your… horn wrap things. I saw in one of Viren’s books once that such fine decorations indicate marriage, like our wedding rings. Is that… what you’re thinking of? You’ve left someone behind? For me?”

Runaan nodded mutely, not trusting his voice at that particular moment.

Harrow looked down and shook his head. Not in sadness, or in resignation, but with a firm edge of frustration to the set of his jaw. In a low voice, he murmured, “Sarai, I need you to come knock some sense into one of us. And I’m really not sure which one.”

A new presence pressed against Runaan’s consciousness, and a lithe warrior queen stepped into view, glowing slightly around the edges of her being. She folded her arms and eyed the pair of them. “You’re the assassin who slew my husband? Normally I’d kill you for that.”

Runaan studied her impassively. “I am already dead.”

Sarai tsked. “Moonshadow elves. I bet you say that to all your victims’ dead wives.”

Runaan’s mouth fell open in surprise at her sass. “No. Just their dark mages.”

Sarai shifted her gaze to Harrow. “I think he’s serious. You let a guy like this get the drop on you? Did you forget everything I taught you?”

Harrow gave her a helpless look. “Probably, dear.”

Sarai’s hands shifted to her hips and she studied each man in turn. “Alright, you two. Start from the beginning. And keep in mind that I’ve got enough sense-knocking power for the _both_ of you if you leave out anything important.”

***

The portal’s light flared as a single figure stepped back through. Everyone’s eyes fixed on the same spot, and a collective gasp went up.

“Dad!” Ezran called.

Harrow’s mouth dropped open at the sight of Ezran, older and taller. But he raised his hand and bade him wait. His other hand reached back through the portal. When it returned, it led Sarai into the light of the world.

Callum’s voice burst from his throat in a broken sob. “ _Mom_??”

But Sarai held her hand up to forestall him, too. And then she and Harrow both reached back through the portal together.

Nothing happened.

Sarai rolled her eyes. “By the lights, he really is a stubborn one, isn’t he?” She pulled sharply, and with Harrow’s guiding hand they brought a reluctant and confused Runaan back through the portal with them. He kept his eyes downcast and tried to slip from their grip, but they held each other’s wrists behind his shoulders, keeping him from stepping back through the portal.

Rayla, Callum, Ezran, and Ethari hurried forward together. Ethari stood behind the younger kids, but his face was taut with hope and pain. “You must be Harrow,” he said over the others’ exclamations of delight and confusion. “What’s going on?”

“You guys are all kind of glowing,” Callum added. “Can we… can we touch you?”

“Not yet, honey,” Sarai said. “But your dad has a plan. Right, Harrow?”

“I do.” Harrow’s Court Voice kicked in, and he raised his volume so everyone could hear. “Long ago, I tried to offer to share half of another kingdom’s suffering. I was talked out of that, and I ended up invading Xadia and losing Sarai instead. I still don’t know what would’ve made a better choice back then, but the urge to share in others’ lives remains in my heart. Shared joy is doubled, but shared pain is halved. I’ve done many wrong things in my life. But today, out of nowhere, the assassin who took my life for my crimes has come to take my place in death, in atonement for his own. And I can feel history trying to repeat itself. So now I wonder: is it time, once again, to offer to share the pain of those I care for? Only you can decide. And so I ask you for your help.

“Runaan has already traded his life for mine. If you say no, then I’ll remain here with you. And Sarai and Runaan will return through the portal. But if you say yes…”

“You can _all_ stay?” Rayla breathed. “H-How?”

“I want them all to stay,” Ezran stated firmly. His gaze locked onto Runaan, even though the assassin still wouldn’t look up. “How will that work?”

“Lujanne?” Callum called.

The Moon mage glided forward and stood to the side between the returned spirits and their most beloved. Her hands clasped tightly in front of her as she took a deep breath. “Ethari. This is not what the Nexus was designed for.”

His copper eyes glimmered with tears, but his expression was set. “But it can handle the load.”

She nodded slowly, gently. “There must still be a transfer. That part cannot be avoided.”

“You know I’ll do anything,” he replied instantly.

“No, wait, hold on,” Callum protested. “Because that’s sounding pretty scary and final, and I’m very sure that whatever Ethari’s offering is not something Rayla and I will be okay with.”

“Damn right,” Rayla added.

“My offer stands,” Ethari said. His gaze fixed on Runaan’s downcast expression.

“No, wait,” Harrow said. “This is exactly what I hoped to avoid. I don’t want any big showy sacrifices this time, not for anyone.”

Ethari’s eyes blazed. “What are you saying?”

Harrow looked from him to Lujanne. “Runaan says there must be a bond, and there must be a price. Is this true?”

“It is.”

Harrow’s gaze swept across the gathered crowd. His brows lifted with his smile as he saw Soren and Claudia among the other familiar faces. “Well, you all look pretty bonded to me. Please, help me set things right too. Runaan’s making his best effort. I can feel that. But he’s making a mistake I already know isn’t worth the price. _Justice_ isn’t the answer. It’s _love_ , and it always has been.”

Sarai and Runaan both looked over at him then. Sarai wore a proud smile, and Runaan a very complex look full of hope, shame, and confusion.

“I don’t want to be the only one this sacrifice saves,” Harrow continued. “I was a better man with Sarai by my side. I don’t want to come back without her.”

Sarai pressed her fingers to her lips and kissed them, not wanting to interrupt Harrow.

“And,” Harrow continued, “it seems that Runaan and I have more than a few things in common. Having spouses that make us better people is one of them. You might think it’s facile of me to want to spare my killer from a death he chose himself. But…” he offered Runaan a canny side glance, “it’s harder to live for a cause than to die for it.”

Runaan’s eyes widened at that, as if he finally understood where Harrow had been going all along.

“So if you wish to save _me_ , then I accept your mercy,” Harrow called. “But my most fervent wish is to return as the best me I can be. And that means coming back as the man who can ask his wife’s advice any time he needs it—and he’s _going_ to need it. And as the man who can offer the enemy a helping hand, so we can step forward together. No more fighting. No more war. Because apparently…” Harrow finally dropped his arm from behind Runaan’s shoulders and turned halfway to face him, while gesturing to Callum and Rayla, “…we’re about to be family. And I’d hate for _either one_ of us to miss out on that.”

Rayla clapped her hands over her mouth, and her violet eyes went wide with pleading as she stared at Runaan. Ethari’s hands clasped her shoulders from behind and squeezed.

“Okay, Dad, that all sounds great, but how do we _do_ it?” Callum said.

“Did you just call me… ‘Dad’?” Harrow asked with a grin.

“I said what I said,” Ezran stated. “I want them _all_ to stay. Lujanne, what do we need to do?”

Lujanne rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “This complex of an exchange will require a balance of years. All the remaining years in Harrow’s and Sarai’s lives must be offered and paid before their souls can be released. And Ethari, _no cheating_.” She wagged a finger at the craftsman.

Ethari gave Rayla’s shoulders one last squeeze and stepped toward the spellwork mechanism atop a stand near the open portal. “Everyone who is willing, bring your years forward. I’ll pay all the rest. Lujanne can’t stop me—I built this thing.”

“Oh, we can stop you,” Claudia said, striding forward. “We can _outbid_ you. Take as many of my years as you need. I owe them anyway.”

Amaya and Janai stepped right up behind her. “Take ours, too,” Janai said. “You know I have more to offer than the humans. What am I going to do with them if I outlive my wife anyway?”

Amaya signed, _I heard that._

Janai snorted. “No you didn’t.”

Kazi began, “Actually I think she’s using a metaphoric—oh. Yes, of course.”

Soren swaggered forward with Marcos in tow. “Yeah, so we kinda messed up too? And so you can have some of our years for your Lifey-Deathy-Swapperoo Machine. Just not, like, the _next_ few, if you can manage it, Ethari? Because those are gonna be my prettiest and buffest years and I’d really hate to waste them, y’know?” He flexed a massive bicep.

Salah slipped up beside Marcos and took his hand. “I don’t want to be without my human either. Take plenty from me.” She and Janai exchanged a solemn nod.

In groups and singles, every single person came forward and offered to help save Harrow and Sarai. To save Runaan from paying the ultimate price, in hopes of a softer future where peace would let friendship blossom in place of the cycle of death and war.

Ethari’s bottom lip trembled, but his grin was as wide as Xadia. “You’re all beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much.” He bit his lip and fiddled carefully with his invention, adjusting ratios and input, until he had everything set and balanced and fair.

Rayla, Callum, and Ezran clung to each other, waiting eagerly for the moment when they could hug the returned. Runaan couldn’t seem to bear the strain of being saved, though, not by so many people at once. He slumped to his knees and leaned forward onto his hands, shaking his head slowly. “It’s too much,” he murmured. “I don’t deserve this.”

Harrow knelt on one knee beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder. “You came into the afterlife for me, after I sanctioned the death of the Dragon Prince—an unborn dragon, the definition of innocence—out of hurt and anger. And you dare to speak to _me_ about not being worth saving? I’ve done terrible things, and so have you. But hear me now, Runaan. This is the part of the tale where our fate is no longer in our own hands. This, this _very act_ , this _one moment_ , _this_ is mercy in action. This is _forgiveness_.” Harrow’s green eyes filled with tears, and his dark brows bent. “I don’t deserve this either. But our fate is not always up to us. All we must do is to try to be worthy of the love that others hold for us.” His gaze lifted to his wife, and he smiled softly. “And I’ll try harder this time. Not everyone gets a second chance.”

Sarai clasped her hand over her heart. “My darling, sweet, beautiful husband. Screw up that badly again, and I will _absolutely_ plant you in the ground headfirst. Out of love.”

Harrow’s face split with a bright grin. “Yes, dear.”

Runaan nodded silently. “I had a second chance, and I tried to spend it saving you. No one deserves a third.”

“ _Ahem_. Mercy, remember?” Harrow corrected. “‘Deserve’ has got nothing to do with what life hands us, Runaan. Nothing at all. It’s all about what we do with the time we’re given. You’re getting the gift of more time. Spend it well.”

Runaan eased back onto his heels, still appearing lost, but he nodded slowly. “I will… take a leaf from your book, if I may, and… listen to my spouse more.” His eyes found Ethari, who glanced up just then with a fierce grin. “He has the biggest heart in Xadia. And I’m not sure I trust mine at all anymore.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Harrow encouraged. “Together. That’s how we get through anything. We do it together.”

“All set!” Ethari called. “Stand back, everyone.”

Callum dragged Rayla and Ezran to a safe distance, and Lujanne stepped over beside Ethari. He raised a hand to smack the activation rune.

Lujanne flared her fingers, and a tiny storm of grubs fell all around Ethari, making him flinch. She trailed her fingers all over his carefully precise measurements, upending ratios and making the spells flare in protest. Then she slammed the activation rune herself.

The portal _roared_.

Runaan felt Sarai and Harrow clinging to him as the world flared white around them all, and he wrapped his arms around them too, out of sheer instinct. Their grip grew stronger, warmer. And then, a warm breeze in his hair. Moonlight. And the weight of physical existence returned once more.

Runaan glanced from his own hands to Ethari, but Ethari was staring at Lujanne in angry panic. “What did you _do_??”

Lujanne was entirely unfazed by Ethari’s agitation. “Don’t worry, Ethari. The spell is complete, and the price paid, just like we all wished it to be. But the years offered and calculated may not be _quite_ what you anticipated.”

“What does that mean?” he asked suspiciously.

Her smile was very winning. “No one should know the exact hour of their death, dear. That’s no fun at all. Everyone here was willing to sacrifice for peace. And that’s very good! But none of us should need to count down the minutes until our time is up. That’s not living. That’s… _accounting_.” She shuddered and then brightened again. “Life is a beautiful mystery, and part of that mystery is not knowing when it’s going to end. Everyone lives more intently if they think their time might be up soon. Which, you know, it just might.” She grinned mischievously again and winked.

Ethari put his hands on his hips. “That’s not what I wante— _oof_!”

Runaan threw himself into his husband’s arms. “Please forgive me,” he murmured brokenly. “I keep doing it wrong. I need you, so much. I’m so sorry.”

Ethari’s anger at Lujanne melted in an instant, and an ecstatic sob caught in his throat. “Runaan. You have me. You’ll _always_ have me. Thank you for letting us save you, my heart.”

Runaan nodded wordlessly against Ethari’s shoulder, and Ethari held him breathlessly tight.

“Every moment counts now, Ethari.” Lujanne winked saucily at him over Runaan’s shoulder, smirked, and sauntered off.

Ethari’s arms tightened further around his stubborn husband, because Lujanne was right. Every single moment he got with Runaan would be a precious gift now. Rayla, Tiadrin, and Lain slammed into Runaan and Ethari a moment later, while Callum hurled himself at his parents.

“Mom! Mom, I can’t believe this, is this real?”

“‘Is this real’? Well, that’s not very Moonshadow of him,” Rayla joked through happy tears.

“You’ll have plenty of time to work on him, love,” Ethari assured her as he wrapped an arm around her.

Ezran held onto Harrow and didn’t let go. Callum hugged them both, and Sarai held everyone together. The bright relief of _belonging_ radiated off of all of them. After a long while, Callum cleared his throat, tucked his hands formally behind his back, and said, “King Ezran, may I present your mother, Queen Sarai. She loved you very much. But she will definitely fight you for the last jelly tart. Uhh, she’ll fight you for the _first_ one, too. Better brush up on your martial skills.”

Ezran stared up at his mom with a dazed and happy grin on his face. He swiped away tears of joy and said, “I wish I remembered you. You’re beautiful. Just like your pictures.”

Harrow and Sarai exchanged a damp glance. “Well, we’ll have to get a new family portrait painted, won’t we?” Harrow said.

“Yes…” Sarai agreed, “…but we’ll need to have it done in landscape format.”

“Really? Doesn’t _landscape_ go against the very purpose of a _portrait_?” Harrow teased.

Sarai only grinned. “How else are we going to fit all of these people in it? They gave their years for us, Harrow. They’re all family. Every single one of them.”

Harrow’s eyes widened at the very thought, but a smile lurked on his lips.

But Ezran grinned hugely. “Okay, you’re definitely my mom. Can I hug you now?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Sarai held out her arms, and Ezran flew into them, squeezing her as tightly as he could.

“I missed you,” he murmured. “Aanya was right. You _can_ miss someone you don’t remember.”

“I’m sorry I left you, Ezran,” Sarai murmured. “I’ll never do it again.”

“Didja hear that, Runaan?” Callum called over. “The _not leaving your family ever_ _again_ part? I can have her say it louder if you want.”

Rayla facepalmed amid all her parents’ hugs. “I’m sorry. I’m still training him on Moonshadow manners.”

“No,” Runaan murmured, “he’s right. And so is Queen Sarai. I didn’t deserve my second chance, much less this one. My life is in your hands now. I owe everyone a more attentive version of myself. I’m going to do it right if it kil—uh—if it takes me the rest of my life.”

Ethari gasped and chuckled. “He’s learning already!”

Runaan had the grace to blush lightly. “I’m very motivated.”

Rayla and Callum caught each other’s gaze and slowly began herding their hugging families toward each other. “Come on, you know this is going to happen eventually,” Callum said.

“And often,” Rayla replied.

But when they drew close again, Harrow and Runaan stopped short and took a long moment to study each other. Ethari and Sarai glanced at each other, and Lain and Tiadrin clasped hands tightly.

“There’s a saying in Katolis,” Harrow began. “ _Live and learn_. Do you know it?”

Runaan nodded.

Harrow nodded to himself. “We’re not perfect. We’ve hurt those we love, and those we didn’t even know. But I believe that you and I can move past that together. I refused to change my ways when I had the chance, and I paid for that. And you, apparently, keep trying to die to set things right.”

Runaan glanced down for a moment and tongued a molar in chagrin. Harrow wasn’t wrong.

“So how about, _this_ time,” Harrow continued, “we live and learn? You _live_ , for once. And I’ll _learn_ , for a change.” The former king of Katolis held out a hand in peace.

Runaan eyed it cautiously, keenly aware of where he was standing, in the Nexus of his own people, surrounded by elves and humans and a bright new future he didn’t quite know what to do with. Slowly, he reached out and took Harrow’s hand, clasping it firmly. “Live and learn.”

“Yes! Score one for peace!” Callum crowed.

“Shu’ up,” Rayla grinned, grabbing him by the scarf and kissing him into silence.

Beside their wayward spouses, Sarai and Ethari high-four-and-a-halfed.

And they all lived happily ever after, until the end of their days. Which none of them ever knew when to expect, thanks to Lujanne.


End file.
